Moisture in Test Tube

[nwbobber]

Recently I bought a used light. dive rite 10W HID. Even more recently I flooded said light, and sent it to dive rite for repair. Upgraded to h1000. Got it back, first dive, at about 35 ft it went out, light was flooded again! No problem, Dive Rite fixed it free, said the lid was warped, replaced said lid and sent it back to me. I received it today, and there is a fog of moisture in the test tube! Right out of the box! OK, I'm hoping that this is just that FLA has more humidity than WA, and I can just open it up, let it dry, and use it this weekend. What do y'all think? Cause I am getting tired of having a light IN THE MAIL!

[Dashrynn]

It sounds like humidity... you would think they had a dry room for building the lights.

[nwbobber]

This morning the fog is gone. I haven't done anything with it. When it got here Melissa put it in the sink and turned it on. I'm thinking the heat and the cold water in the sink caused the fog. So there is a bit of moisture in the test tube, do you think this will do any harm to the bulb? Or is this kind of thing normal coming out of cold water? Would it be advisable to wait for a low humidity day, remove the test tube, let it dry out and put it back together?

[spatman]

i have heard of this happening before, and from what i understand it isn't a problem. but you can take the tube off and dry it out if it bother you.

here are a couple threads on TDS about it:

http://thedecostop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42622
http://thedecostop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37538

[Grateful Diver]

It's a common issue with lights that use test tubes over the bulb. I take mine off from time to time, use a Q-tip to remove the little droplets inside the light, then put it back together again.

I've never noticed it affecting the performance of the light ... it just bugs me to look at it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[nwbobber]

Thanks for the replies, I think I will stop worrying, and take it apart on one of those 10 degree days this winter, hopefully that will be the end of it. It kind of bugs me to see it in there.

[CaptnJack]

Its inevitable no matter how dry you try to assemble it. It'll come back too. As long as there's no drip onto the connections its fine. If an actual droplet looks imminent take the test tube off and use a Qtip to dry it out like Bob suggests.

[airsix]

I would guess it's one of two things.
1) Assembled in a hot humid location = condensation when unpacked in cooler WA.
2) The cable wasn't replaced and it has some moisture in it from the flood which is wicking into the lighthead.

These are guesses. Water can wick a long way down an insulated cable and could easily go the length of our light cords.

[CaptnJack]

There's a paper filler in most light cords, I always figured moisture moved down it from the heating and subsequent cooling of the air inside the actual lighthead. Cause moisture always seems to re-accumulate in there.